Johan Pehrson: Abolish the queue system for school

The Liberals think that the current system creates justice problems and propose a new admissions system with a mandatory school choice for municipal elementary schools and free schools.

This means that parents, for example, will not be able to put their children in a queue at birth.

- It is important that more people can apply.

It is fantastic and unique in Sweden that you can choose, he says.

According to the Liberals' proposal, the queuing system would be replaced by a selection period that begins a year before school starts and lasts for about a week.

It would create a cluster of students where different selection criteria determine who is allocated the school places.

Selection criteria decide

It could, for example, be about what profile the school has, reasons Pehrson.

In schools with a singing profile, singing tests can make the decision.

Other criteria could be sibling advantage, the proximity principle or an integration ratio, according to the L leader.

As a final decisive outcome, a draw may be relevant, says Johan Pehrson.

- At the end of the line, never at the beginning, one must be able to be prepared to use the draw.

This despite the fact that the party in its election manifesto writes that it opposes lotteries for the schools.

- If you have done all these other criteria, you have divided some according to proximity and some according to integration and then you have some left.

Then it is reasonable to draw lots as a last resort, it is difficult to think of any other selection criteria.

Not even

At the same time, several of the Liberals' potential cooperation parties have said no to both the lottery and to scrapping the queue system.

- I have to make sure that more of the bourgeois try to see that you need to increase justice, says Pehrson.

It sounds like the main features of your proposals are significantly closer to the government's proposals than those of your intended cooperation parties?

- We are in favor of central admission and it is great that the government also thinks so.

But I don't think they accept that you can do this a year before.

They would probably like to have a draw first.